The war of words is heating up ahead of the 2025 Ashes, with former England captain Michael Vaughan leading the charge. Speaking at a promotional event in London just weeks out from the first Test in Perth on November 21, Vaughan took aim at both Pat Cummins’ Australia and England’s own high-risk Bazball strategy.
Vaughan: Australian fans admire England more than their own team
In one of the most stinging pre-series comments, Vaughan questioned whether the Australian public truly connects with their national side, despite its success.
“I think the Aussie public really admire England’s style of play,” Vaughan said, speaking an audience at a viagogo promotional event.
“They want to see players having a go, they like to see a bit of pace and cricketers enjoying themselves.
“I’m not too sure the Aussie public love the Aussie team. They don’t seem to have that kind of connection. You go back many years, when they were right behind them. This team has had so much success, but there seems to be a connection that’s not quite together with fans.”
Vaughan suggested that an early win for England could stir discontent within the Australian cricket community.
“If England can get that first win in Perth,” Vaughan maintained, “you can create a few divides within the Australian community.”
The Bazball gamble: entertaining or exposed?
While Vaughan has praised the transformative effect of the Bazball era under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, he issued a cautionary message about its limitations—especially in Australian conditions.
“The one thing they must be wary of is you don’t win in Australia by playing one way,” he said.
“I’m bored of this message with the England side saying ‘it’s the way that they play, they want to go even harder’.”
“The ball will move around in Australia. It’s a different Kookaburra ball and pitches now – and there’s more lateral movement than I’ve ever seen. The first 25 overs of a Test it does so much that if you go throwing your hands at the ball, England have a habit of losing five, six, seven wickets quickly.
“If you lose those wickets quickly in an Ashes series in the first innings, you don’t win a Test match. My fear is that England play such an expansive game they might get blown away. It’s not being negative, it’s being sensible and using your brain to realise in the first 20-odd overs, Australia won’t get it wrong.”
Vaughan made it clear: the time for style points is over—this is about winning.
“If they have to step back from their incredible, entertaining way of playing to win the Ashes, just do it,” he added.
“I want to see Ben Stokes in Sydney on the podium with the urn in his hand.
“There’s no excuses now. They’ve seen everything and everything’s been thrown at them. They know what the Aussies will do. They’ll spread the field a bit. Just milk it, take the runs. If they can do that, they’ve got a great chance.”
Time for Stokes to deliver
Vaughan sees the 2025 series as a defining moment for England’s captain.
“I think Ben and his mentality, and the way that he plays his cricket, this is his moment,” said Vaughan, who captained England when the old enemy won the epic 2005 Ashes series.
“He has to deliver and he has to get that urn in his hand. And it’s not putting him under pressure; they’ll be speaking in this kind of language in the dressing room. They will expect to win this series, and now’s the time to deliver.”
Despite high hopes, Vaughan tempered expectations with a dose of realism, given England’s record in Australia.
“Let’s be honest, in the last few [Ashes] series, 2010-11 is the only time that I’ve seen England have success [in Australia],” Vaughan added.
“We won one Test match in 2002-03, we won three Test matches in 2010-11, we haven’t won a Test since. So actually looking at growth in terms of what English cricket is delivering and, crikey, if you could get a two-all series, you’d obviously take that.”
ECB defends England’s lean preparation
As debate rages about England’s readiness—particularly their decision to skip traditional state-based warm-ups—ECB performance director Ed Barney pushed back against critics like Ian Botham, who claimed the prep “borders on arrogance.”
“There is nothing the lads will want more than to raise their game as far as it has ever been, [and] put batters under pressure, put bowlers under pressure,” Barney said.
“I have no shadow of a doubt that the three-day fixture will be a quality exposure that will continue to aid England in their preparation.”
Barney also pointed to the modern cricket calendar as a limiting factor in pre-series scheduling.
“I understand where the question comes from, the history of the game,” Barney said about the perceived lack of practice matches.
“The interesting question is – have you looked at the future tours program? Have you looked at franchise cricket and the fact that a multi-format player left the country on 13 October and if they play in every England commitment and play in the Indian Premier League, and The Hundred, they will have less than two weeks off between now and the end of September?
“There is a volume of cricket that takes place that means there is a constant balancing of red-ball, white-ball, franchise and domestic cricket commitments.
We are confident in the set-up, the approach, the time the team have got together, the ability we have had to provide a set of different preparations that are optimal for different players.”
